APRIL 17, 1995

What is a holiday?What is a holiday?

Formula 1 drivers, mechanics and engineers are gluttons for punishment so the annual Easter holidays do not have much of an effect on their lives - and their constant demand for new developments mean that many fabricators and machinists also have to miss out on time at home with their families. However, teams do try to take a break between the Thursday night before Easter and Tuesday morning.

The big British teams never let a holiday get in their way; and today at Silverstone, England, the clans will be gathering again to start a major test which will run for most of the week. The teams will then rebuild the cars in the course of next weekend in time for them to be sent off to Imola, where they arrive on Tuesday evening, eight days from now.

Most of the interest in the Silverstone test will be focused on how Nigel Mansell gets on in the "wide-bodied" version of the McLaren-Mercedes MP4/10, built especially to fit the 1992 World Champion. Also expected at the English circuit are Jordan (Barrichello, Irvine), Tyrrell (Salo, Katayama, Tarquini), Arrows (Morbidelli, Papis) and Pacific (Gachot, Montermini).

The Renault-engined teams will be down in sunny Spain at Jerez, with Williams having Hill, Coulthard and tester Boullion all in action while Benetton will share the work between Schumacher and Herbert.

The continental teams will be taking life a little easier - holidays being considered more important on the Continent - and Ferrari, Sauber and Minardi will not begin testing at Mugello, Italy, until tomorrow morning. At the same time, Ligier will be firing up its cars at Magny-Cours.